The FBI in 2009 had begun an investigation into corruption and extortion by senior officials of Tenex, a subsidiary of Russian nuclear company Rosatom, The Hill revealed last week. The report validated reporting by Breitbart News editor-at-large Peter Schweizer, who first wrote about the uranium deal in his book Clinton Cash.

Court filings showed that Rosatom was aware of the bribery scheme by Tenex head Vadim Mikerin, who pled guilty in 2014 to orchestrating more than $2 million in bribe payments, through accounts in Cyprus, Latvia, and Switzerland.

Despite the existence of the FBI investigation into Tenex, a Rosatom subsidiary, the Obama administration allowed the sale of Uranium One, a Canadian-based company with U.S. uranium assets, to Rosatom.

Clinton and then-Attorney General Eric Holder presided over the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) that approved the deal. The deal began in 2009 and ended in 2013, transferring American uranium deposits in Kazakhstan — 20 percent of American reserves — into Russian hands.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent an October 12 letter to various agencies involved in the deal that noted, “in 2009, when the validity of the mining licenses was at issue, the Chairman of Uranium One, Mr. Ian Telfer, donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation via his family charity called the Fernwood Foundation.”

The letter noted that Telfer was also a major investor in the company UrAsia, and between 2008 and 2010, Uranium One and Former UrAsia investors donated $8.65 million to the Clinton Foundation — donations made while the Uranium One sale was being hammered out.

The FBI told Newsweek it had no comment as to whether Mueller had alerted senior Obama administration officials, including Clinton, about the ongoing FBI investigation before they brokered the deal.

Ironically, Mueller is now leading a special counsel investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election and whether there was any collusion by the Trump campaign.

Mueller was picked by President George W. Bush to lead the FBI in 2001 and served through 2013 when he was succeeded by James Comey.